Key to the problem

The Seven Party Alliance (SPA) meeting held at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s official residence at Baluwatar on Dec. 15 made a landmark achievement, in that it was finally able to forge consensus on many of the contentious issues.

However, whether the decision on the electoral system based on the distribution of seats

between first-past-the-post and proportional representation system will be acceptable to all the parties remains a million dollar question. Taking into account their failure to

implement past decisions, there is enough room to doubt the integrity of the commitments made by political leaders.

Though the parties have agreed to declare the country a federal republic, the road map of the peace process cannot be drawn unless the issues raised by the Madhesi groups are

addressed first. Fixing the election date is not an end in itself, but making it a

success, thereby allowing Nepalis to elect their own representatives to frame a new constitution, is the key.

Dwaipayan Regmi,

Biratnagar

Not again

This refers to the news report “Don’t announce poll date in haste: CEC” (THT, Dec. 24). I support Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel’s argument that it wouldn’t be wise for the political parties to announce the polls before political issues are settled. The

parties need to analyse the reasons for failing to hold the polls in the past and not repeat the same mistakes. Furthermore, technical preparedness alone wouldn’t lead to the desired goals unless all stakeholders are sure about the success of the Constituent Assembly polls. Indeed, there would be no bigger betrayal of the Nepali people than the government failing to hold CA election yet again.

Manit Deokota, Ratopul, Kathmandu

Inexcusable

Apropos of the news report “Senior officer of Nepal Bank shot dead” (THT, Dec. 24), it is shocking to learn that the Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha-Goit (JTMM-Goit) took someone’s life, supposedly to settle some vendetta. It is even more surprising to learn that the JTMM-Goit Bara-Parsha boss, Birat, had the audacity to own up to the murder of the Nepal Bank employee.

The political outfits, especially those that have recently emerged in the Tarai, have no right

whatsoever to take a person’s life. It is the responsibility of every citizen to abide by

the law of the land. The state authorities should strictly punish the law violators.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne, Australia

A suggestion

This refers to the advertisement of Home Land housing estate that has been appearing in THT. The advertisement is all right, except for one thing that I find a bit odd. It has the

Annapurna Range as the backdrop, though the housing estate is located in Kathmandu. It is

understandable that the objective of every advertisement is to appeal to the audience.

Perhaps it was done with that in view. Most

advertisements are known for some exaggeration. That has been a practice in Nepal and outside. Still, I feel the advertiser could still achieve its objective equally well by taking my point into consideration.

Jeevan Kumar, Kathmandu